


Do you believe in ghosts?

by Beleriandings



Category: Akatsuki no Yona | Yona of the Dawn
Genre: Angst, Drug Use, Gen, Ghosts, that one time in the Water Tribe arc when Jae-ha took Nadai and Hak looked after him
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-15
Updated: 2017-10-15
Packaged: 2019-01-17 21:35:37
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,080
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12374574
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Beleriandings/pseuds/Beleriandings
Summary: Prompt: Hak & Jae-ha, "do you believe in ghosts?"





	Do you believe in ghosts?

“Hak…Hak…” Jae-ha’s grip on his hand was tight on his, skin slippery with sweat and rainwater, feverish hot underneath. His eyes were wide now, pupils blown huge and dark with the drug that was coursing through his system as wet green hair straggled half across his blotchy grey-pale face. Hak reached forward and pushed the hair back reflexively as Jae-ha tugged him closer with surprising force, almost making him overbalance before Hak caught himself with a hand on the floor.

Well, he thought, at least this was better than unresponsive. Jae-ha had been alternating between the two, since a frantic Kija had carried him in from the rain just as night began to fall. Yona had been distraught, Zeno hugging her close and whispering something in her ear while Shin-ah had held her hand. Yoon’s eyes had been wide and desperate, his face pale with paralysed shock, this boy who had seen soldiers die on the battlefield, trying and failing to patch their torn bodies, who had seen war and disease and all the horrors that were the reality of the life they had chosen.

Hak had felt a painful tear in his chest seeing that. He found himself wanting to act, so he had taken charge.

Now, though, he had to admit that he was utterly out of his depth here. He had dealt with the sick and the wounded before of course. He knew how to deal with poisoning; make them vomit, get the poison out even if they fight against it.

That he had done for Jae-ha, in the early hours of the night. It hadn’t been pleasant or easy, and the room was still heavy with the acrid smell cloying like fear in the air, but he had done it.

It had helped, a little. But this… well, this was something different. After Jae-ha had had no more to throw up, Hak had given him water, but he had cried pitifully, fighting against him with terrible weakness alternating with unexpected ferocity and incoherent cries and pleas for mercy.

Hak had to wonder then; Jae-ha joked about his past sometimes but Hak had to wonder what he had been through that whatever demons and ghosts danced behind his eyes terrified him so.

Jae-ha whined out his name again, tears squeezing from the corners of his eyes, which were closed tight. Still, Hak could see them moving fast behind his lids, as though he was in the throes of some desperate vision, face twisted with pain.

Jae-ha clutched again tightly at his sleeve, and his eyes flew open, very dark in the dim candlelight, all pupil. “Hak… do you…?”

Hak’s heart beat with nervousness. Jae-ha wasn’t out of danger yet, he knew, and he was still suffering. Still, he supposed keeping him talking might be more likely to help than harm. “Do I what, Droopy Eyes?”

He had hoped the nickname might bring some semblance of familiarity, some grounding. But no; Jae-ha just clutched his sleeve tighter, fingers scrabbling convulsively at the fabric as his eyes stared unblinking now. “D-do you believe in ghosts?” His voice was a raw, husky whisper, slightly slurred yet clipped with fear.

“Do I…” Hak bit his lip. “I’ve never seen a ghost.”

“You… will” he forced out. “We’ll all…. when were dead, we f..four dragons. Ghosts. We’ll all comes back… for her… not enough time!”

“What do you mean?”

“Not enough!” Jae-ha cried out, voice rising. “Family… I n-never thought… not enough time, I’ll be dead soon…”

Hak frowned, stroking back the damp threads of hair that had fallen over Jae-ha’s face again; he had a graze on his chin and another on his cheek, probably from where he had fallen on the ground, and there was dark, congealing blood there. A small hurt though; one for later. “Silly” Hak said, more gently than he had ever spoken to Jae-ha before. “You’re not going to die.”

Jae-ha shook his head, vehemently. “Not now, maybe. But soon… soon. There’ll be another though… tell the others…. I’m sorry… I’ll be there… I’ll join the ghosts in the v-village but you need to go back… tell the others, Hak! Please, please…”

Jae-ha’s begging sounded pitiful, too unlike him. Hak gritted his teeth, nervousness making his voice sharp. “No. You’ll tell them yourself.”

“No. It hurts. It’s not enough… why couldn’t I have had longer?” Jae-ha gritted his teeth, something like a bitter laugh rolling out of his mouth, sharp and biting. “I’ll see them soon. Won’t be long… but tell her, tell Yona… I’m sorry I had to leave her…”

Hak’s heart tore at the desperation, the furious defiance in Jae-ha’s voice even as he clung to Hak’s hand hard enough to leave indents in his skin, sharp red fingernail crescents. “You’re not going to die” he said, praying o whatever gods were listening. “You’re a dragon warrior, and… and she needs you.” He pushed down whatever protest he might have once had against that; now, he realised, he knew it to be true. He held Jae-ha close, in his arms to keep him from striking out into the air. “You’ve got to live. For her. I won’t let you die. I’ll be here until the morning. I’m not going anywhere, and neither will you. You hear me, idiot?”

(He didn’t know what Jae-ha had taken, or how much of it. So he only hoped his words were true.)

Jae-ha seemed to ignore his words. “G…Garou…” he said, in a strained whisper. “I’ll go to you soon…ah, but will we be tied to that place? Will I be there forever with you?” He sobbed. “I just wanted…. the sky… I’m s-sorry…”

His words became unintelligible, rising to another scream before tailing off into a whisper. Hak held him close to his chest on impulse; Jae-ha only fought him briefly before grasping in close to his touch, clinging like a drowning man.

Hak held him as he cried and muffled his screams into his tunic; he knew that when - if - Jae-ha woke again, he would be glad the others had not seen this. They could hear the screams of course, and the walls were no impediment to Shin-ah’s dragon sight, but… well, he would do what he could.

Hak held Jae-ha until his screams and his crying ceased, and he fell into an uneasy, feverish sleep; after that he watched over him.

Nevertheless, it was a long, solitary vigil until the dawn.


End file.
